The warning above is by this week’s interviewee, José Edson Colpas (photo), founder and current president of Nosso Lar Spiritist Centre in the Brazilian in city of Americana, in the state of São Paulo. He is a business manager and entrepreneur. In this interview, he speaks about a number of issues, including the work carried out by Nosso Lar.

When and how did you become a Spiritist?

It was 20 years ago. I was going through a bad period and suffering as a result of my ignorance of spiritual matters. I was taken to a Spiritist Centre where a gentleman named Benedito introduced me to the Teachings.

When and how was Nosso Lar Spiritist Centre founded?

I worked as a volunteer in several Spiritist groups and felt the need to found a new one. Nosso Lar was founded on August 6^th, 2012. As I work in a neighbouring city, Taubaté, things just fell into place. We concluded the building work in 2017 and we carried on with the study groups. In January 2018 we officially opened the Spiritist Centre facilities, offering a number of activities, including talks, healing, counselling, study groups, seminars and Gospel studies for children.

Your facilities are modern, practical and cosy. Where did you get the inspiration for the project?

The intuition came from the Spiritual Benefactors, based on a project that had been designed in the Spiritual World.

How do you do to carry out all the activities with such a small team of volunteers?

Basically with cooperation and discipline.

What is the main experience you’ve had along all these years in Spiritism?

It is remarkable how the ideas have come up as intuition and how they end up being implemented so naturally.

What are the main activities and social projects carried out by Nosso Lar?

We run workshops that provide clothes and basic items for new born babies from poor families. They also produce dolls, which is part of a different project. We also provide assistance to families in need and the homeless. At the Nosso Lar Spiritist Centre we offer different Spiritist activities from Monday to Friday every week, including healing, workshops and study groups. We organise monthly talks or lectures with Spiritist speakers.

What would say to Spiritists to guide them through this difficult period of the world’s history?

We may accept it or not, but reincarnation is the pure expression of Divine Justice. We are responsible for our joys as well as our suffering. It is purely cause and effect (not action and reaction). Our conscience is our judge.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Spiritists need to study and learn, constantly. We must start with the Core Works of Allan Kardec and then follow up with the complementary work, especially the books written by the Brazilian mediums, Francisco Cândido Xavier and Divaldo Pereira Franco.

What are your final thoughts?

“Love one another and educate yourselves,” advised us the Spirit of Truth. We must look for love in the Gospel of Jesus, with the rationality and insight required. We must also study. There is, regrettably, a group distorting Spiritism. They take advantage of Spiritism and of those who know little about the Teachings to introduce new ideas, fundamentally changing the principles of Spiritism laid out by the codifier, Allan Kardec. There are people who appear to be very wise trying to introduce the concept of “Easy Spiritism.” They simply manipulate the situation to bring in their own ideas. In order to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, we must study the Teachings and read the books. We are equally responsible when we accept the introduction of those changes. That is not Spiritism. We all have free will and people have the right to make their choices. They can give the name they want for this new movement, but they must not hide behind the name of Spiritism. They must come out and be clear about what they really think.